


You cut a hole in the wall

by stars_inthe_sky



Series: thought i was alone [4]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Bucky Barnes Recovering, F/M, Gen, Knives, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Pre-Relationship, Protective Natasha Romanov, Talking, Wakanda, Weapons, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 19:19:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stars_inthe_sky/pseuds/stars_inthe_sky
Summary: “I know how he thinks. We were both weapons once…to be used.”Some things change, some remain.





	You cut a hole in the wall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [one_of_those_crushing_scenes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_of_those_crushing_scenes/gifts).



> one_of_those_crushing_scenes prompted, “make a wish.”

“Hey, got a sec?” Natasha ducks into the hut by the lake, a burst of sunlight flashing in her wake as the cloth covering the doorframe sways.

Bucky shrugs. “Sure.” He rolls his shoulders back, and the plating on his arm shifts into place like ruffled feathers settling on a bird’s wing. “There’s not really anywhere to sit. I’ve mostly just been sleeping here, but I’ve got a cache in the corner there, so…”

She settles on a rug, watching him lay out a familiar-looking rifle, a couple of smaller guns, and a series of impressive knives in various shapes and sizes. He notices her staring and adds, “The guns I had when we got here, but ask the Dora if you want any blades. Ayo said these were antiques that were gonna get scrapped otherwise.”

“Crazy,” Natasha chuckles. “And good to know.”

“But not why you’re here,” he says, facing her as he starts strapping in and holstering his arsenal. “Trying to get me alone, Agent Romanoff?”

“How much do you know about the Battle of New York?” she asks, ignoring his question.

Whatever response he wanted to elicit, that surely wasn’t it. Bucky shrugs again. “Enough. Invading alien army, assembled Avengers, hell of a cleanup, don’t press Barton about it.”

Natasha grabs a smaller switchblade and examines the hinge. “But do you know how we won?”

“Hulk smash?”

She shakes her head. “That helped. The fighting on the ground—it got civilians a chance at safety, staved off some of the worst damage, and certainly distracted a good deal of the Chitauri. But they kept coming.”

“Fine, I’ll bite.” Bucky grabs his knife from her but hands it back at the look on her face. “Keep it. What stopped ‘em?”

“Closing the portal—the wormhole—that brought them. And nuking the mothership on the other side that controlled them. I did one, Tony did the other, and that was it. _Spasiba za nozh_.”

“ _Pozhaluysta_.” He rolls back on his heels, regarding her. “So, you think this Titan guy’s got a mothership or something, too? Why tell me and not the literal army up the hill? Or the Avengers you came with?”

“Because sometimes it doesn’t take a whole army. Sometimes all you need is—”

“—one man,” he finishes. “You’ve been reading the lore about me; I’m flattered.”

“The Wakandans have probably the strongest fighting chance of anyone on this planet,” Natasha explains. “But they work in teams. They’re most effective in groups—they rely a lot on their tech, and each other. Even His Highness.”

Bucky nods, shifting to sitting cross-legged opposite her, his larger gun poking out behind his shoulder. “I’ve noticed. You think I’m gonna see something they won’t. Like you did.”

“Exactly. But it’s not just that—if you see it, _when_ you see it, we’ll need that one-man army.” She flips the switchblade open and shut, punctuating her words. “Not just the formal one. We need—”

“You need the Winter Soldier.”

“Or the Black Widow.” Natasha purses her lips. “I’m not here to tell you what to do, Barnes, and I’m definitely not about to throw you in a freezer or strap you into a chair. But sometimes…sometimes you need to take what they made you and _use_ it. “

“You don’t even know what we’re looking for,” he says, reluctant but relenting.

“No,” she admits. “And maybe I’m wrong about the levers we’ll need to pull, but…T’Challa’s already got an army. We’re here because we’re not like the rest of them, you and me both, and that—that might be the difference between what’s left of New York and what’s left of Asgard.” Natasha clicks the switchblade shut and pockets it.

He tenses visibly, almost baring his teeth as his nostrils flare. “You think you know me?”

“I think I _am_ you, or I was.” Bucky softens at that, and she leans toward him, just a little. “In New York, I left my team behind to go close the portal, and I will never know if people got killed because I made that choice, or if there’s some alternate version of history where Clint or Steve or any of the others didn’t make it. But there was a chance, and I took it.”

“You saved the world.” He sounds a little awed in spite of himself. “And now you think the Winter Soldier can, too.”

She reaches for his hands, and he lets her take them. “I do, yes. Not because they were right in what they did to you, or because they were right about you—because they _weren’t_ —but because this is what you _can_ do, like no one else.”

“Because it’s what you can do, too.” Bucky looks down at his mechanical fingers, then holds them up in the space between them for a moment. She hasn’t seen the new arm up close before—unlike the last one—but the gold catches the light, and she can’t quite look away.

He sighs heavily and rises, offering her a hand up that she accepts. “Yeah. You’re right, I just—I wish—”

“I know,” Natasha says softly. “But even when it feels the same, just know—we’re not their weapons anymore.”

Bucky nods, once. “And we have a world to save.”

He squeezes her hand without letting go, and they begin the long walk back to the others.

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "[Laid](https://www.vevo.com/watch/james/laid-\(version-3\)/GBUV70600410)" by James.


End file.
